Las Macau.

Macau. One of the two pretty much autonomous Special Administrative Regions of China, the other being Hong Kong.

Here they have their own laws and rules and their own currency, but in casinos it seems they only accept Hong Kong dollars. Talking of casinos… Macau really is the Chinese Las Vegas. It even looks like Vegas – skyscraper luxury hotels, countless garish casinos, where nothing ever closes. Put another way, a concentration of depravity!

To get there, first you need to get to Hong Kong. From there it’s straight from the airport with no passport check 45 minutes on the ferry. Once in Macau it’s 100 yuan ($15) for your visa, and off you go…

Since I got to see nothing there apart from the hotel (we were having a partner conference there), I was able to only take a few photos.

All the pics are somewhat dull and gray since it was the rain season (25-30 degrees centigrade, frequent downpours, and 90% humidity).

Above is a pic from my hotel room. Below is the same view but at night – and it really is quite something; it’s just a shame it doesn’t come across well in the photo: The thin strips of bright light you can see on the hotels shoot up and down and side to side and produce a stroboscopic effect with different colors, then they depict water, then fish, then all sorts of other weird and wonderful stuff. One can watch them for ages.

It was in Macau where we had our regional APAC-2011 Partner Conference. 250 guests (partners) from 22 countries of the region – from India, China and Korea to Australia and New Zealand – plus all the countries that fall in-between (with the exception of Japan, which is a separate region).

Selected Interviews

'We are close, very close, to cyber terrorism. Perhaps already the criminals have sold their skills to the terrorists - and then...oh, God.' ... more

'It's a challenge interviewing Eugene Kaspersky – and I've done it a few times. You come prepared with a list of questions, but he doesn't answer any of them. At least not in the way you expect or want.' ... more

'Believe it or not, my primary concern is making the world a cleaner place. Money is important; but if I do my job well, that will take care of itself.' ... more